To Be or Not To Be Blessed!
I know that we are told that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. Well that is great and I have always believed that. Here recently I have studied that a little further and came up with the surprising fact that if God is blessing me to be a blessing to other people then He is also blessing other people to be a blessing to other people and sometimes I may the one on the receiving end. (It may not be that surprising to others but humor me a little.)
There have been so many times in my life that I got so caught up in being a blessing that I was blind to the fact that it was actually I that was being blessed. When I was blessed to go to Africa, I was so caught up in what I could bring to these children in the Care Points and the poor little orphans that I almost missed the blessing that was right there for me. The pure and utter joy and thankfulness of the people who by my standards had nothing to be thankful for were weeping at our thoughtfulness at giving them a tube of toothpaste or a jar of vaseline. When they prayed or sang about Jesus and the Father there was pure unadulterated joy that it was hard to miss. I almost did.
The ladies that are all volunteers at my place of work. They have no jobs and are very poor yet they show up every day and volunteer to clean, answer phones, do whatever needs to be done just to feel they belong and they are a part of something. That blesses me every day I walk into the building. I am not the one there to dish out the blessings - I am on the receiving end.
When a mom tells me that something I said to her really blessed her in dealing with a child going astray I sometimes forget that that in itself is an answer to my prayers. I prayed that The storm I was going through would be put to good use and not be a waste. I could not fathom a God that would allow me to go through such a tough storm just to forget it once it was over. So I am truly blessed when I know that my pain was not in vain and someone else benefits from it.
Currently there are a lot of people that are telling me what a blessing I am to my daughter-in-law. She is living with us and is 5 months pregnant. She is lucky to have us . That is when I realized that I am so blessed and do not even realize it. I beg to differ with them - I am the one being blessed, every morning when I get up and go to the coffee pot. God has blessed us with a home that has enough room for her, a heart that could not bear to have her by herself and a joy at being able to bless someone else.
I truly believe that my children and grandchildren are my greatest blessing in my life. (That includes the in-laws as well as the out-laws). To know that in some little way I may have an impact on their lives is an awesome thing. I know there are some impacts that are a little more negative than positive but Hey if they learn something from it it was good. The blessings I have received from them far outweighs anything I could have ever imagined on my own. You love your children with all your heart and think you could never love another person that much then God blesses you with grandchildren - there is nothing like it in the whole world.
So the next time an opportunity comes my way and I get all prideful and big headed about how I am going to be such a blessing to someone else I pray the Holy Spirit stops me in my tracks. I never want to say I never realized what I had until it was gone. That would be a waste. And I never want to deny another person the opportunity to BE a blessing - No matter what we think we all need to be blessed sometimes.
So Blessings from the Trunk, em.
There have been so many times in my life that I got so caught up in being a blessing that I was blind to the fact that it was actually I that was being blessed. When I was blessed to go to Africa, I was so caught up in what I could bring to these children in the Care Points and the poor little orphans that I almost missed the blessing that was right there for me. The pure and utter joy and thankfulness of the people who by my standards had nothing to be thankful for were weeping at our thoughtfulness at giving them a tube of toothpaste or a jar of vaseline. When they prayed or sang about Jesus and the Father there was pure unadulterated joy that it was hard to miss. I almost did.
The ladies that are all volunteers at my place of work. They have no jobs and are very poor yet they show up every day and volunteer to clean, answer phones, do whatever needs to be done just to feel they belong and they are a part of something. That blesses me every day I walk into the building. I am not the one there to dish out the blessings - I am on the receiving end.
When a mom tells me that something I said to her really blessed her in dealing with a child going astray I sometimes forget that that in itself is an answer to my prayers. I prayed that The storm I was going through would be put to good use and not be a waste. I could not fathom a God that would allow me to go through such a tough storm just to forget it once it was over. So I am truly blessed when I know that my pain was not in vain and someone else benefits from it.
Currently there are a lot of people that are telling me what a blessing I am to my daughter-in-law. She is living with us and is 5 months pregnant. She is lucky to have us . That is when I realized that I am so blessed and do not even realize it. I beg to differ with them - I am the one being blessed, every morning when I get up and go to the coffee pot. God has blessed us with a home that has enough room for her, a heart that could not bear to have her by herself and a joy at being able to bless someone else.
I truly believe that my children and grandchildren are my greatest blessing in my life. (That includes the in-laws as well as the out-laws). To know that in some little way I may have an impact on their lives is an awesome thing. I know there are some impacts that are a little more negative than positive but Hey if they learn something from it it was good. The blessings I have received from them far outweighs anything I could have ever imagined on my own. You love your children with all your heart and think you could never love another person that much then God blesses you with grandchildren - there is nothing like it in the whole world.
So the next time an opportunity comes my way and I get all prideful and big headed about how I am going to be such a blessing to someone else I pray the Holy Spirit stops me in my tracks. I never want to say I never realized what I had until it was gone. That would be a waste. And I never want to deny another person the opportunity to BE a blessing - No matter what we think we all need to be blessed sometimes.
So Blessings from the Trunk, em.
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